Florida State Trooper Indicted for Participating in Drug Smuggling

A Florida state trooper has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his
alleged participation in a drug smuggling ring that spanned the east
coast. Twenty-nine year old Justin Kolves was charged with conspiracy to
possess and distribute for aiding a group that smuggled massive
quantities of oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut. According to the
Hartford Courant, twenty individuals were
charged, including another police officer and three Transportation
Security Administration officers from airports in Florida and New York.

Kolves apparently traveled to Connecticut three times last year to serve
as a bodyguard for an oxycodone drug dealer during illegal drug
transactions. For his services, Kolves was compensated $3,700.
Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein stated, “This defendant, a sworn
law enforcement officer, took cash from a known drug dealer to assist in
the illegal transport and sale of highly addictive oxycodone pills.”
Kolves has since resigned from the Florida Highway Patrol.

Over the summer, Florida began a widespread crackdown on the “pill
mills” that had made the state infamous for prescription drugs. The
crackdown, as well as indictments like the one just leveled in
Connecticut, will put the responsibility on doctors to help control
prescription drug abuse. Florida has a history of some doctors
prescribing addictive painkillers to patients that do not need them,
which could amount to medical malpractice.

Many patients have been victims of doctors’ offices where physical
examinations were not performed and controlled substances were
prescribed in excessive dosages and potentially fatal combinations. If
you or a family member has been prescribed powerful a painkiller like
oxycodone and has experienced an injury or overdose, you may be entitled
to file a claim with a medical malpractice
attorney to seek
compensation for lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering.